One To Be Born Again
by TachyonOne
Summary: A Final Fantasy IV Fanfic. One thousand years after Cecil and his friends rid the world of evil, can history repeat itself?


One To Be Born Again  
A Final Fantasy IV Fanfic  
By Roehl Sybing  
  
Chapter One: The Headlines At This Hour  
  
"Good morning, I'm Terry Crawford, and this is Morning Briefing here on  
Planetary Network News. Here are the headlines at this hour. It only happens  
once every one-hundred forty-or-so years, and astronomers from around the world  
are assembling together for an event unlike any other. A spherical mass of  
rock the size of a small moon will be completing its' elliptical orbit around  
our planet in about three months. The Lunar Rock, as scientists call it, is  
believed to have been a moon that circled around the planet until it was  
influenced by the sun almost a millennium ago. Now for the seventh time in a  
thousand years, the Lunar Rock will fly by and assume orbit around the planet  
for two weeks, after which the sun will pull the phenomenon towards its path  
for another seventy-two years.  
"The Damcyan Senate has approved final construction of their statewide defense  
net. The project has been in full force for almost two years now and has  
already begun to take shape long before it is set to go online. When  
completed, the defense net, the first of its kind, will protect the citizens of  
Damcyan from invaders of neighboring countries. The construction has drawn  
international criticism from Tororia to Baron, who believes that the net is a  
reactionary and paranoid measure against enemies which do not exist. The  
defense net is expected to be completed on schedule one week from tomorrow.  
"In Baron, the Red Wings are setting up for a live-fire demonstration to be  
held at the millennial Anniversary of the founding of the Kingdom of Baron. The  
celebration of mass proportions is still three weeks away, but already tourists  
are gathering together just outside the town of Baron to bear witness to the  
event of the millennium. On the schedule for the festivities include a  
demonstration by the Red Wings, which will use pulse cannons, tactical  
missiles, and electro-magnetic lit-bolts to take out four decommissioned  
cruisers provided by the Sea Power.  
"And finally, fires rage for the third straight day in Mysidian City as support  
from neighboring areas and local Light and Shadow Technicians pool in their  
resources to save countless people from danger. Mysidian City was attacked  
three days ago by unidentified terrorists who took the Crystal of Water from  
the highly-secured Crystal Room. Reports are sketchy at best and casualties  
are light with the death toll only at about a dozen civilians and policemen,  
but the government of Mysidian City is already pointing fingers at the Kingdom  
of Baron. The President of Baron told reporters in a press conference  
yesterday that the Mysidian Council has no proof, only history, to back up  
their accusations. The Kingdom of Baron has offered humanitarian aid, but  
Mysidian City has denied all help offered by the President."  
---  
"This is Red One," Cole said, "Requesting on behalf of mine and four other  
airships to dock immediately at Military Bay Four, over."  
"This is Baron Flight Control. Negative, Red One," the voice crackled above  
the static, "I have several aircraft in my airspace that require immediate  
attention. It will take several minutes, we can begin docking procedures  
then."  
"Acknowledged, Flight Control. Red One out." Cole sat back in the command  
chair. It had been a long few days, several minutes were relatively  
insignificant, though he sure would love to be home as soon as possible. Then  
he could put the whole thing behind him. Then he could get rid of...this.  
On the tray table to his left lay the black box. It was nothing special except  
for the contents inside. Cole dared not look at it again, how beautiful,  
though, that it was. When he grasped it in his hands, it was a sight to  
behold. But he was too...unworthy to even look at it again. He didn't belong  
in its presence and yet, he held possession over yet. No, he thought, it was  
the possession of Mysidian City. He and everyone under his command had no  
right to steal it. No right to take it from the Crystal Room. No right to  
murder innocent technicians and Councilmembers and definitely no right to take  
out a good part of the city. All Cole had...were orders. Orders directly from  
the President to storm Mysidian City and take its' prize. He hid well the fact  
that he was sick of it, and he knew that his squadron was sick of it as well.  
Including his First Officer. "Captain," Commander Williams approached the  
Captain.  
Cole lifted his head up, "Yes, Commander?"  
Williams trembled, "I would...like to...inform you that...you will have my  
resignation in the morning."  
The other officers on the bridge turned their heads. It was the first bold  
move anyone made on this mission.  
Cole shifted in his chair, "This is the military, Commander, you cannot just  
resign from the Red Wings."  
"With all due respect, Captain, if the President can do what he wishes, then so  
can I."  
"I understand your objections, Commander, but given the circumstances--"  
"I cannot bear the circumstances! We are trained soldiers, Captain, but we are  
ordered to act as common thieves! I can see through you, Captain, you do not  
agree with the orders yourself!"  
"That is what we are under, Williams," Cole said, "Orders! We must carry them  
out to the best of our abilities without question. That is what loyalty is all  
about."  
Williams replied, "Then I cannot be loyal, sir."  
"You are out of line, Commander! But your remarks are noted. We will settle  
this when we land, is that clear!?"  
Williams stood silent. All he could do was step back and return to his  
station. Cole sat back again. He felt the same way, but he couldn't do  
anything about it. If only he could put it all behind him and look ahead, but  
all he saw was what was behind him.  
---  
Cole crept up to his First Officer. "Report," he whispered.  
Williams was eyeing the Crystal Room through a pair of binoculars. "Two pulse  
cannons along the opposite wall, sir. If we trip the sensors, we'll have holes  
in our stomachs."  
"We have to take them out before that happens, Commander. Suggestions,  
anyone?"  
The soldiers whispered among themselves.  
"How about a lit-bomb?"  
"Can take 'em out with a few cannons of our own."  
"Or maybe fill the room with smoke."  
"Too risky, we'll trip the sensors," the Commander said, "We gotta hurry this  
up, the Defender bot we lured away will be coming in back two minutes."  
"No time then," Cole said, "I'm going in. Alone."  
---  
Motion sensors criss-crossed the room, creating a protective web in front of  
the display case. Too bad for just anyone looking to steal the coveted  
Crystal. But those designing the defenses were sloppy, Cole thought, for there  
was a gap in the field, just along the lower-left corner that he could sneak  
through. He did so, with ease, and when the pulse cannons shifted their aim  
across the room, Cole hid under the display case to avoid their gaze. He sat  
under the Crystal for half a minute before he was confident that he was in the  
cannons' blind spot, and before he knew it, the Crystal was within his reach.   
Slowly and surely, his hands reached for the jewel and lifted it off its'  
resting place.  
Bells and whistles set off. A screeching noise filled the room and the Crystal  
Room lit up like a bright candle. Obviously, Cole thought, this was the final  
defense. All of a sudden, the cannons were pointing at him, charging up before  
they could fire. And like that, Cole bolted out of the room before the cannons  
fired and the door sealed itself.  
"Everybody out!" Cole cried, and his men sprung to life and scrambled for the  
exit. For as far as they can see, the part of town that they invaded was on  
alert. Streets and buildings shielded in darkness were now covered in light to  
reveal their invaders. All the more motivation to get to the airship before  
they were overtaken by local authorities.  
"Drop your weapons!" an officer on behalf of his men halted the progress of  
Cole and his command. Instinctively, Williams was the first to fire his  
weapon, and everyone else followed suit. The riot gear the locals wore were no  
match to the military-class weapons of the Red Wings, and the officers were  
taken in short order.  
"There'll be more of that, people," Cole said, "We gotta get a move on!"  
---  
Six hundred paces to the airship. Five hundred paces. Four hundred.  
Suddenly, a gunshot, then a cry of pain. Cole looked behind him. One of his  
men was shot to the ground by a guardsman at the city limits. Cole was the  
only one who noticed the fallen soldier, while everyone else was just  
scrambling for the entrance to the airship. But the poor guy was too far  
behind, and Cole could not come back for him.  
"Come on, Captain!" Williams cried from the door to the airship. Cole was  
conflicted between escaping and saving his fellow officer. He chose the  
former.  
---  
The next thing he knew, Cole was on the airship, already fifty feet above the  
ground, with part of the city already torched by support ships. By then, the  
fallen officer would have activated his self-destruct device to avoid capture.   
He should have never left him behind. He tried to convince himself that there  
was nothing he could do, but it wasn't true. And it was too late.  
"Sir!" an officer said, "I've got a big hostile coming in on attack vector!"  
"Battle stations!" Cole said, and at that order, the bridge crew rushed to  
their stations to defend their ship from trouble.  
"Unidentified creature at four o'clock!"  
"Charging pulse cannons to full power, sir!"  
"Tactical missiles armed and ready, sir."  
"Camera Eight has visual on the target, Captain."  
"On screen," Cole ordered. What he saw on the screen relieved him in part, for  
it was a large vulture-like creature approaching the ship. It was no big deal,  
as opposed to airships from the enemy seeking retaliation, but it was still  
menacing. The creature flew in and rammed the ship, rattling its crew,  
especially those on the bridge. Cole shook around in his chair a few times  
before he gave the order. "Lock cannons on to the target and fire at will."  
"Aye, sir," the officer said as he fired the main guns at the creature. It was  
a swift kill, and the creature fell towards the ground and out of sight.  
All the officers breathed a sigh of relief as the ship stood down from  
emergency. But tensions among the crew rose again.  
"That was the third time this mission we were attacked by monsters."  
"Last week we were hit four times by things like that."  
"I heard rumors that one of our ships were taken down by a whole slew of those  
things."  
"Enough," Cole said, "I just got the order by Flight Control. Begin docking  
procedures into Baron immediately."  
"Aye, sir!"  
As the airships begun their descent, Cole breathed a sigh of relief. The  
mission was finally over. As far as he was concerned, he could put the matter  
to rest. But not a second before he turned over the little black box in his  
possession over to the President. But guilt loomed over his head as the ship  
lowered itself onto the ground. He couldn't wear his uniform with honor. He  
couldn't look at his fellow officers with pride. He couldn't look at himself  
in the mirror. Most of all, he couldn't look at his daughter with the guilt  
that filled his eyes.  
---  
"Mommy! Mommy!" Ashley cried and ran to her arms.  
"It's OK," Rachel said, "Mommy's here."  
"Where's Daddy?" she asked.  
The schoolteacher stepped in, "That's a good question, Ashley."  
Rachel stood up, "I'm sorry, ma'am. Today was not my scheduled day, and..."  
"Understandable. Let's not make this a habit, though. The school day ended  
thirty minutes ago."  
"This won't happen too often. Cole was supposed to take my daughter today."  
"And how is your husband, if I may ask?"  
Rachel sighed, "I wish I knew, ma'am. I don't see him anymore. He's probably  
off somewhere getting himself into trouble."  
---  
On the contrary, for Cole was right outside the gates of the castle.  
"Cindy, this is Captain Cole Porter. I have a package to take directly to the  
President."  
Cindy was the central computer. Some will even say she is the entire castle.   
Nothing runs properly without Cindy. More importantly, Cole could not get into  
the castle without Cindy.  
Her face was on the front viewer, to the side of the castle gate. "Very well,  
Captain," she buzzed, "Enter."  
The gates opened up, and waiting inside someone was waiting for Cole.  
"Geez, Cole," Kent said, "You OK?"  
"That's a matter of opinion," Cole said as they walked together.  
"What's wrong?"  
"A whole lot of things. Unofficially?"  
"Sure."  
"I killed three Light Technicians and four Shadow Technicians among several  
other local police to get to this little gem."  
Kent eyed the black box. "What is it?"  
"THIS is official. And it's classified. Though I'm sure you'll figure it out  
with what I just told you."  
"Oh. OH. Oh, boy." Kent had watched the news. But he couldn't believe what  
Cole was suggesting. "Wow, Cole, you're neck deep in it, aren't you?"  
Cole opened the outer door to the President's office. "Depends. How bad does  
the news say it is?"  
"Bad. Really bad."  
"Say no more," Cole said as he tried to opened the final door into the office.   
It was locked. "Cindy! I need to speak with the President."  
"I am sorry, Captain." Cindy said from another screen on the wall, "I need to  
speak with the President before I can give you authorization."  
"Fine. Make it quick."  
The face disappeared, for a brief minute, until Cindy appeared on the monitor  
again. "You may enter," she said, "Just you, Captain."  
---  
The doors swung open, and at the opposite end of the large room was the  
President sitting behind his desk. "Captain! Come in, come in," he said, "I  
trust all went well with the mission?"  
Cole was near speechless, but managed to say something, "As planned, sir."  
"Good! Good!" said the President, pointing at the box, "Is that what I think  
it is?"  
"Yes, sir."  
"Then bring it here!"  
Cole did so, laying the box in front of him. As the President opened the box,  
his eyes widened with delight. He took the artifact from the box and held it  
openly. Its light spread to every corner of the room. "The Crystal of  
Water..." the President said, "It's even more beautiful than I expected. My  
apologies for being brief, but that will be all for today, thank you."  
Cole gave a weak smile to a President who was too busy looking at his new  
prize. He turned around and headed for the door, but not before speaking up  
again, "Mr. President..."  
The President looked up, "Yes?"  
"Permission to speak freely, sir."  
"Always."  
Cole relaxed his stance, "Well, my crew, sir, they...have moral objections  
about what we have done on this last mission."  
The President put the Crystal down, "Continue."  
"And it sorta turns out...I have objections to this mission."  
"Continue."  
"Mr. President, I have to ask. Why did we just steal the Crystal of Water from  
Mysidian City?"  
"Are you questioning my authority, Captain?"  
"Sir, I--"  
"Don't deny it, Captain. Cindy told me all about it."  
Cole's jaw dropped, "Cindy!?"  
"The computer told me you put up quite a fit about it."  
He blinked. "I'm sorry," Cole said, "What's your point?"  
"My point is your recent disregard for authority and lack of loyalty. If you  
cannot serve me without question, you cannot serve in the Red Wings."  
"Wait a minute--you're cutting me!?"  
"That's right, Captain. As of now, you are suspended from active duty,  
indefinitely. Guards!"  
The door on the left sprung open and two officers came to take Cole away. Cole  
struggled while saying, "Mr. President! I demand an explanation!"  
All the while, the President remained in his chair, "You are in no position to  
demand anything from me. Take him away, NOW!"  
Cole dragged his feet across the floor as the guards forced him out the door.   
And as the door to the office opened, Kent watched on. "Hey!" he said, "What's  
going on?"  
Cole was still making his plea to the President, "You can't suspend me without  
authorization from the admiral! This is nuts!"  
"'Suspend'?" Kent repeated the word, just before storming into the office  
himself. "Mr. President!" he said, "What is going on, sir?"  
"Disciplinary action, Lieutenant. Run along now," the President said as he  
scribbled something on a pad.  
"With all due respect, sir, you are apparently putting down one of the finest  
Captains I have ever served under."  
For once, the President rose from his chair, "You listen to me, Lieutenant.   
You're in Division Three, which means you're not part of the Red Wings anymore.  
So don't you ever question my authority on a matter which is certainly none of  
your business, do I make myself clear!?"  
Kent straightened up, "Yes, sir."  
"Now get the hell out of my office before I throw another soldier out of here!"  
---  
"And that's what he said," Kent told Cole.  
"Barkeep," Cole said, "Another ale please. Kent, I'm sorry."  
"For what?"  
"I'm looking at my own discharge from the Red Wings, and I almost got you  
booted back there!"  
Kent drank up, "No big deal. The President'll keep you on, you're the finest  
Captain in the entire fleet! He can't forget that!"  
"You know, Kent, how can you be so calm about this? You worked your way to  
Special Forces, and all of a sudden you can be taken off duty in a heartbeat!"  
"Well, like I said, you put in the hours, I put in the hours, the President  
can't forget all of that and boot us in an instant."  
"Excuse me, Captain, Lieutenant," an officer from behind approached the two.  
Cole turned around, "What is it?"  
The officer handed Cole a slip of paper. "Your new orders. Both of you," he  
said just before walking away.  
He examined the paper. Cole let out a weak laugh. "I'm gonna need yet another  
ale, barkeep."  
"What happened?" Kent asked.  
"Temporary transfer," he replied, "To the Transport Division."  
Kent's jaw dropped, then his hand raised to signal the barkeep, "I'll have  
another one too."  
---  
At least she brought her work along, Rachel thought. She just knew Cole was  
going to be late, despite that fact that it was HIS meeting. No big deal,  
Rachel could sit in the Inn all day doing filling out paperwork. After all,  
being a Light Technician was no cakewalk. Handling complaints, fixing  
problems, devising new methods. It was not easy...but it should've been fun.   
Rachel remembered a time when it was fun.  
Once upon a time, Rachel was much younger and in training. She learned to heal  
wounds, open portals, and neutralize poison...all with just a few pieces of  
minor equipment. It almost seemed like magic. Especially with Cole by her  
side. They knew each other since forever, so it was only a matter of time  
until--  
Ugh, she said to herself. The very thought of Cole these days just saddened  
her. The very sight of Cole weakened her. And right now, she was feeling very  
weak.  
"Sorry I'm late, honey," Cole said as he sat down.  
"Please," Rachel said, "Please don't call me 'honey.'"  
"Why not?"  
"Because. Because we're not like that anymore, that's why."  
He sneered, "Gee, Rachel, you sure know how to break a heart."  
Rachel reacted, "Where do you think I learned it from, Cole?"  
Wow, Cole thought, she's really putting up a fight on the worst day of his  
career. "What in the world brought this on, Rachel? What's going on?"  
"'What's going on?' Cole, I was in the middle of a very important Cure  
procedure when I was called away to pick up Ashley, on a day on which it is  
your responsibility to take her from school. I drew all sorts of hell from my  
boss who almost threatened to take my equipment from me. And on top of that,  
YOU'RE two steps from being sued by me for child support in the amount of  
five-hundred Gold Credits!" By the end of her speech, she was standing up with  
her hands leaning against the table, with everyone in the Inn looking on.   
Right after noticing, she slowly sat back down before saying, "But really,  
nothing's wrong."  
Cole leaned in his chair, "Good, I'm glad there isn't."  
Rached couldn't understand it, but her only reaction was to laugh. She laughed  
for a long while without saying anything to Cole.  
"Well, good to know you can still be in good spirits."  
"Oh, Cole," Rachel said as her smile slowly left her face.  
"I'm so sorry, Rachel. This is the first time I've been home for three days.   
I keep forgetting to draw a check for child support. You know how much I love  
Ashley. I'll get it to you right away, but Rachel..."  
"Don't say it. As much as I hate to admit it...I'm sorry, too. It's  
just...been one hell of a day."  
Cole's eyes rolled upwards, "Tell me about it."  
---  
"So where HAVE you been anyways?" Rachel asked more than halfway through  
dinner.  
"I can't tell you," Cole replied, "It's all classified."  
"Oh. Right."  
"You don't want to know anyways."  
She put her fork down, saying, "Yes, I do."  
"No, Rachel, you don't."  
"Cole, I want to know exactly where my daughter's father is every moment of  
every day that he is gone. More importantly, I want to know at the start of  
each day whether or not my daughter will have a father that will take care of  
her at night. Yes, Cole, I want to know."  
Cole put his utensils down as well. He sighed, saying, "Rachel, have you been  
watching the news lately?"  
"Yeah, something about your Red Wings and the millennial Celebration," she said  
as she chewed on a piece of food, "What about it?"  
He could not determine whether or not Rachel was intentionally feigning  
ignorance, for the incident had led all news for the past three days. "Rachel,  
the OTHER news."  
Rachel stopped chewing. Her eyes widened and her face leaned forward. "Please,  
Cole. For Ashley's sake...for my sake, please tell me you are not a party to  
it."  
Cole shook his head in sadness, "I'm right in the middle of it."  
She dropped into her seat. She tried not to believe it, but her suspicions  
were correct. She never saw him all week. Several ships from the fleet were  
gone. And don't forget that the very same thing happened one thousand years  
ago. It came to Rachel's mind that it was one thousand years ago to the day  
that it happened. She tried to make light of the situation, "Am...Am I  
consorting with a known war criminal now?"  
Cole, too, was in his own trance, "Rachel, you're not helping."  
"Sorry."  
"I was following orders, Rachel. I couldn't abandon my post for moral  
convictions."  
"Well, what about thinking for yourself? How about that?"  
"Soldiers aren't supposed to think, we're supposed to act."  
"You don't expect me to believe that, do you?"  
"It doesn't matter. Because it gets worse."  
Rachel looked at Cole with disbelief, "How could it possibly get worse, Cole?"  
"It does. I have been re-assigned to the Transport Division."  
Another shock. Obviously one of many. By now, Rachel was completely off  
guard. "Wow," she said, "Talk about being canned."  
"Kain and I, we're supposed to, uh...take some package and head west."  
History. That pesky thing again. "Where are you headed?"  
"Mist," Cole uttered.  
She had reached her peak at the third shock. Rachel upon hearing this bit of  
information swept her plate off the table and onto the floor, catching  
everyone's attention once again. "You know, Cole," she said, "Even after we  
separated, I always thought of you as at least the slightest bit charming.   
Which I kinda mistaken to be synonymous with intelligent. Until tonight, I  
have never thought of you as this stupid."  
Cole looked at Rachel, "Are we gonna add insult to injury now?"  
"Cole, do you have any knowledge of history whatsoever?"  
"Of course I do! I know full well what happened one thousand years ago. I've  
heard it all before. But things are different."  
"Like what?"  
"Well...for one thing, there are no more Callers anymore, if they ever existed  
in the first place! The last of them died in the Cave of Summoned Monsters,  
it's a fairy tale now! Mist is so insignificant today, why would anyone torch  
a town of innocent people these days?"  
"Does the President need a reason anymore? Mist was so insignificant THEN,  
even the Callers presented no match in the great war."  
"The point is, there is no reason for the President to go on a cold-blooded  
killing spree. Theft is one thing, I doubt mass murder is part of his psyche."  
Rachel lifted the napkin off her lap and stood up. "Cole, you may be charming,  
and you may still be the least bit intelligent, but you have a great weakness."  
Cole folded his arms, "And what is that."  
"You're so naive." She handed the check to him, saying, "Forty-four Gold  
Credits for the dinner. Plus the dishes. It's your turn anyways." And with  
that, she picked up her belongings and stormed out of the Inn, leaving Cole to  
place his face in his hand.  
---  
"Who is it?" a voice said.  
"It's Cole. Open up, Carl."  
The door opened. "Cole!" Carl exclaimed, "How've you been? How was the  
mission?"  
Cole shrugged, "I'm alive, right?"  
"Ha," he said, "That bad, huh? Come on in, kid. I usually don't take in  
guests this late, but for you..."  
---  
"I have to know," Carl said as he gave Cole a seat, "How're my airships?"  
"Perfect condition," Cole replied, "Just like you left them."  
"Good. So's long as I don't have to clean 'em in the morning! So, really,  
what brings you to these parts?"  
Cole shifted in his chair, "You know a lot about history, right?"  
Carl pointed at his bookshelf, "This is all thanks to my son. Got him the  
whole Planetary Database in paper form. Why?"  
"You just have to refresh my memory about The Great Mist Tragedy."  
Carl offered a look of suspicion, "What's this about, kid?"  
"I have to know," Cole said, "It's important."  
He took a seat opposite Cole. "Well," he said, "A thousand years back, just one  
week before the Great War, two unnamed couriers brought a package into Mist.   
It was believed to be sent by the King of Baron, though not many people are  
sure. Anyways, the package was a death trap, see? They didn't say what was in  
it, only that it torched the entire town and sent the Callers into extinction.   
Well, the Great Rydia survived, but she was the last of her kind. Come on,  
Cole, what's this all about?"  
Cole took a piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and showed it to Carl,  
"This."  
Carl read the orders on the piece of paper before saying, "Just what I feared."  
"'Feared'?" he asked, "You mean, you knew about this?"  
He gave the paper back to Cole, saying, "Go. You have a mission."  
"I can't take this mission, Carl! You and I know what will happen!"  
"Perhaps. But you have to go tomorrow," he said, taking Cole out the door. He  
said, "Trust me. You have to fulfill prophecy!" before he closed the door on  
him.  
Prophecy? What prophecy? Cole asked himself, what had he gotten himself into?  
---  
At home, Cole sat at his table and constantly shifted his gaze between the slip  
of paper on the table and the clock on the wall. Ten o'clock, it read. He  
couldn't sleep, knowing the risks ahead. He was already responsible for taking  
the lives of a handful of innocent people just three days ago. Now he was  
ordered to take out an entire town of innocent people. Did the President think  
he was that ignorant? No, he thought, it doesn't matter. He was a soldier,  
and he has an obligation to his President to carry out whatever orders he was  
given. And he was curious anyways. Prophecy? Please, thought Cole, this is  
the modern world. But what about what Carl said?  
Cole's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in," he said,  
"The door's open."  
The door opened, and in the doorway stood a happy figure.  
"Daddy!" Ashley said.  
Cole ran up to Ashley and lifted her up, "Ashley! Oh, you're a sight to  
behold!"  
She was only six, so she shrugged and said, "Huh?"  
"Never mind," Cole said happily, "How was school today?"  
"We played with Shadowtech today, Daddy. They taught us how to create Ice!"  
"Oh, I'm so proud of you honey!" he exclaimed, before asking, "Where's your  
mother?"  
"Right here," Rachel said, just coming up the steps to Cole's house.  
Cole's smile weakened but still remained on his face. "C'mon, dear," he said to  
Ashley, "Why don't I read you a story and put you to bed?"  
---  
"And Rydia, who was once afraid of fire," Cole read from a storybook, "Summoned  
a great flame to melt the ice and open the passageway to the mountains."  
"So did they get to the other side?" Ashley asked as she stood up in bed.  
"Yes, and the great warrior Yang showed them the way to Fabul, and there, they  
held off ten thousand soldiers from taking the Crystal away. They even stopped  
the evil Golbez from destroying the entire castle!"  
"Is that the end of the story, Daddy?"  
Cole closed the book, "It's never the end of the story, dear. But it's time  
for bed."  
"Aww, just one more chapter?" Ashley pleaded.  
"Sorry, Ashley," he apologized as he tucked her into bed, "Daddy's got a big  
day tomorrow."  
"Are you going away again?"  
"Yeah," he said softly, "But I'll be back. I always come back."  
"Like Kain, right?"  
Cole laughed, "Right! Like Kain."  
---  
Cole stood in the doorway of Ashley's bedroom and looked out into the living  
room. There, Rachel looked out the window where she could see the rest of  
town. She knew he was watching her, so she said, "I'll pick her up before you  
leave in the morning."  
"That's no problem," he replied.  
Rachel turned around and approached Cole, saying, "Cole, whatever happens,  
please..."  
"What is it?" he asked as he touched her face.  
"Come back for Ashley," she said softly as a tear rolled down her cheek, "Come  
back...for me. Find your way...back to me, OK?"  
Cole said nothing, only touching her lips with his as they held each other for  
what seemed like an eternity.  
---  
But this eternity didn't last. Morning came as Cole, all geared up and ready  
to go, however uncertain of the mission ahead, walked out to the outer  
perimeter of the castle. There, Kent stood at the castle gate, with a package  
in his hand.  
"This is it," Kent said as Cole came up to him, "This is the infamous package."  
"Are we willing to do this, Kent?" Cole asked.  
"Do we have a choice?"  
Cole, strangely enough, had no response. All he could do was walk with Kent  
outside the castle.  
---  
And so began their journey for the Town of Mist, located in a valley enclosed  
in deep fog.  
Many questions stuck in the back of Cole's mind: for one, why did he put up a  
fight in the President's office, only to submit to the President's will and go  
on a mission that would eventually result in the destruction of an entire town?  
Why did he allow his men to take out Mysidian City and steal the Crystal of  
Water from their land?  
A more important question: what does the President want with the Crystals  
anyways?  
---  
"West of here," Kent said, "Should be where the cave leading to Mist is."  
"Then we'd better head west," Cole replied.  
The two walked on, and within minutes they disappeared from the sight of Baron.  
---  
The crystal was shedding its light silently...  
  
To be continued. 


End file.
